Strong Enough
by kkuzzz
Summary: Sequel to My Hero. Follow Miley and Lilly's relationship as Lilly tries to recover from her physical and emotional wounds left from the kidnapping.
1. Always There For You

Chapter 1: Always There For You

A/N: This is a sequel to my first story My Hero. It will probably make a lot more sense if you read that one prior to reading this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just the story line. No suing necessary!

Lilly chuckled a little at the scene on the television set in front of her. She was watching another rerun of Bonanza.

"Hey Lilly, you ready to go home?" Robbie Ray asked from the doorway of her hospital room. It had been ten days since the entire ordeal her and Miley had undergone and the doctors had finally agreed to release her into the care of the Stewarts. Her mother was still out of town for work and was asked to stay another couple of months. Robbie assured her that Lilly was very welcome to stay with them and that they would take great care of her.

"I was ready to go home a week ago Mr. S." she answered in her chipper voice.

"Miles is on the way with your wheelchair."

Just then, Miley came rolling into the room standing on the back of a wheelchair, smiling her biggest ear to ear.

"Hey girly, need a lift?" she asked pushing the chair up to Lilly's bed.

"Why yes, thank you," Lilly swung her legs over the side of her bed and her heavy casted leg clunked loudly against the metal bedframe. Miley looped her arms under Lilly's armpits and lifter her onto her good leg. She then rotated Lilly and sat her down gently in the chair.

"Hang on tight now," she said. Miley popped the chair into a wheelie and pushed it out into the hallway.

The girls wheeled quickly around in circles in the parking lot waiting for Robbie Ray to get done signing all of Lilly's release papers. When they saw him emerge from the doors they quit horsing around and chilled out next to the car.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm missing something between you two?" Robbie asked limping up to the car, leaning heavily on a cane to keep his weight off of his still injured leg. The gunshot wound was healing a lot faster than anticipated so he could had begun putting some of his weight down on it, but not too much yet.

"We weren't doin' nothin' daddy. We're just eager to get home." Miley replied innocently.

"Okay, well get in and buckle up then."

The ride home wasn't a very long one and before they knew it they were pulling into the Stewart's driveway.

"Welcome home my lady," Miley said opening Lilly's door. She reached into the car and helped Lilly into a standing position, throwing Lilly's arm over shoulder and wrapping her own arm around Lily's waist.

"Miles, why don't you let Jackson help Lilly inside?" Robbie suggested.

"No daddy, I got her," she replied already halfway to the door.

They clumsily made their way down into the living room and plopped down together on the couch. Miley helped Lilly prop her leg up and then leaned back smiling at her.

"What?" Lilly asked, smiling back.

"Nothing, just taking you in."

"Aww," Lilly said putting her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.

"Don't get all mushy on me now," Miley laughed. "Wanna watch a movie?"

"Yeah! How about Empire Records?" Miley giggled because Lilly still had a very small slur in her speech due to her head injury. "It's not nice to make fun of the disabled!" Lilly defended herself.

"I'm not laughin' at you babe. Empire Records it is." She hopped up and loaded the movie into the dvd player. Then she reclaimed her spot on the couch next to Lilly. As she got comfortable, Lilly laid her head back down on Miley's shoulder.

When Robbie came down to make dinner, he smiled to himself seeing the girls together on the couch. As the sauce he was making began to cook, Lilly lifted her head looking for the source of the good smell. As Lilly stirred, Miley awoke too.

"Lil, you need something?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Whatcha need? I'll grab it for ya."

"I need some of whatever your dad is cooking!" she replied smiling over at Robbie.

Miley laughed at Lilly's eagerness to get food. "Daddy is it ready yet?"

"Sure is. Come on and get some before your brother comes down and eats it all."

Just as she did before, Miley looped Lilly's good arm over her shoulder and helped the petite girl over to the table. Once they were both sitting, Robbie Ray set two large plates of steaming noodles in front of them.

"Thanks Mr. S., it's delicious!" Lilly exclaimed already digging into her plate. "Better than that hospital food I've been eating all week."

"You are very welcome Ms. Lilly," he smiled. "So what are you ladies doing tomorrow?"

"I'm taking Lilly to the mall and we're gonna get some new outfits," Miley explained as she ate her dinner.

"Sounds like a good time to me," he replied turning back to the stove.

Both girls ate the rest of their dinners quietly. When they finished Miley turned to Lilly.

"You wanna go upstairs and look at some magazines?" she asked.

"Sure." Lilly agreed.

After a bit of a struggle, Miley and Lilly finally got into Miley's room. Once they got Lilly sitting on the floor against Miley's bed, Miley went over to her dresser.

"I'm gonna put some p.j.'s on okay? I'll be right back."

The moment Miley left the room, Lilly used her good arm to pull herself up onto the bed. From there, she hopped gently on her good leg over to the gym bag Jackson had grabbed from her house. She rummaged through it until she found a pair of blue boxers to sleep in and a pair of baggy sweatpants. Moving as quickly as she could, she tried to remove the jeans she was wearing. This turned out to be more of a struggle than she had expected. She managed to get them off and replace them with the boxers, but when she tried to pull the seatpants on, she accidently stepped down on her casted leg and her whole body pitched forward. Just as she landed on her face, Miley came back into the room.

"Lilly! What happened?!" Miley exclaimed rushing over to help her up.

"I just wanted to get some sweats on," she explained.

"Well why didn't you just wait for my help?"

"I don't wanna be helpless Miles. I wanna be able to do stuff on my own. I've been dressing myself for a long time now, I should have to rely on you to put my own pants on me." By the 

time she finished speaking tears of frustration ran down her cheeks. Miley enveloped her in a tight hug.

"Don't worry sweetie, you're not helpless. You just need to give yourself some time to heal."

"I don't want time to heal. I don't wanna be a burden on you and your family. I don't want you to have to carry me around and do everything for me."

"You are definitely not a burden to us, and I don't mind helping you do things here and there."

"But-," Lilly started but was cut off.

"Lilly, you risked your life to save mine. That broken leg would never have happened if you hadn't shoved me out of the way and taken the hit for me. You protected me from those guys and for that I owe you my life."

"But Miley- "

"Shh. Stop. I love you Lilly and no matter how long it takes for you to get better, I'm gonna be here for you." Miley said, wiping Lilly's tears away with her thumb.

Lilly smiled and looked down as her cheeks flushed a deep pink color.

"Now how about we pull these pants up and read some horrible gossip?" Miley said meeting Lilly's eyes.

Lilly nodded her head and together they pulled her sweatpants up to her hips. Then, with a little help from Miley, she got on her stomach across Miley's bed.

Once Lilly was good and situated, Miley walked across her room and grabbed a stack of magazines and joined Lilly on the bed. She wrapped her arm around Lilly and flipped througha magazine with her other.

That's how Robbie Ray found them in the morning – both laying on their bellies, Miley's arm wrapped securely around Lilly, and their faces flat against the magazines on the bed. He decided to let them sleep awhile longer. As he left, he quietly pulled the door shut behind himself. When the door clicked shut, Miley's eyes popped open. She smiled to herself as she looked at her sleeping girlfriend lying next to her. As much as she would have loved to stay like that forever, her bladder was screaming at her to empty it. So she got up gently, so as not to wake Lilly, and made her way to her bathroom. While in there, she decided to get dressed.

When she came back, Lilly had spread out across the bed. Miley noticed that her pant leg had moved up, revealing Lilly's black cast. She chuckled a little remembering the fight Lilly had put 

up to get that black cast. Using a silver Sharpie marker, Miley knelt on the floor in front of Lilly's cast and started drawing. After about ten minutes, Lilly stirred so Miley quickly capped the marker and slipped it into her jean pocket.

"Hey sleepy head. How'd you sleep?" she asked moving to the side of the bed.

"Wonderfully," Lilly replied happily.

"Good. You want some breakfast? I think daddy is makin' pancakes."

This got Lilly to sit straight up and swing her legs over the edge of the bed.

"Well why didn't you say that sooner!?" Let's go lady!"

Miley smiled and pulled Lilly to her feet. Together, they went down the stairs, which they found to be much easier to be going down than up. When they reached the kitchen they were met with steaming plates of pancakes.

"Good morning ladies, sleep well?" Robbie asked. Both girls blushed a little before nodding in response. "Good. Well, after you finish up your breakfast and Lilly gets dressed, I'll drive you over to the mall."

Lilly had already wolfed down a plate of pancakes when Miley started in on her own.

"Wow, you musta been hungry Lilly. You want some more?" Robbie asked.

"No thank you. I think I'll just go back upstairs and get dressed for the day."

"Don't you want some help Lils?" Miley asked quickly, remembering the incident from the night before.

"Maybe you could just help me get on the floor." Miley replied.

"Sure," Miley helped Lilly down off the stool and set her on the floor.

"Thanks Miles. I'll be back in just a bit," she said scooting towards the stairs on her butt.

With much effort, Lilly managed to get up the stairs and into Miley's room. After picking out a simple outfit to wear, she pulled herself up onto Miley's bed using her good arm and good leg.

"Okay Lilly, you've got this handled now," she said to herself.

With that, she very slowly changed her undergarments and pulled on a pair of black baggy board shorts. After getting the shorts on successfully, putting a fresh shirt on was easy as pie. She chose a neon green Billabong t-shirt. To finish getting dressed, Lilly pulled one black 

converse out of her bag and pushed it onto her non-casted foot. When she tried to tie the lace, she found that she couldn't get her left hand to grab it tight enough.

'Must be because of the cast,' she thought, 'it's restricting my muscles.'

Shrugging it off, she slid herself back to the floor and scooted back down the stairs to Miley and Robbie Ray.

"Wow Lilly, I'm very impressed!" Miley exclaimed upon seeing the freshly clothed blond.

"Thanks! I just need a little help tying my shoe please," she asked raising her foot in the air.

"No problem hun," Miley walked over to her and tied it loosely, just like Lilly liked it. "You want me to help you a little with your hair too?"

"Oh, I totally forgot about my hair," Lilly laughed, "yeah, you can just throw it up into a ponytail if you want."

Nodding, she went behind Lilly and quickly but gently brushed the blond hair and pulled it up into a hairtie.

"You two ready to go?" Robbie asked from the kitchen.

"Yeah. Did you put the wheelchair in the trunk already?"

"I did indeed," he replied.

"Great! Then what are we waiting for? Let's get to the mall!" Miley shouted.

Lilly had already scooted to the door when Robbie Ray's voice stopped her.

"Truscott! I know you don't think you're scootin' out there in the dirt on your little butt and then getting' into my car!"

"C'mon." Miley helped her up and they walked together to the car. Miley lowered Lilly into the front seat and then climbed into the back. Robbie took his place in the driver's seat and started the car up.

"To the mall good sir. Pronto!" Lilly said clapping her hands together. Robbie turned his head and glared over at her. "Please?" she said more timidly.

To that, Robbie just smiled and pulled out of the driveway. That's when the fear and worry started to rumble around in Lilly's stomach.


	2. At The Mall

Chapter 2: The Mall

It was a short drive to the mall, so they got there in no time. Pulling up, Robbie parked the car in a handicap spot close to the entrance. He then hopped out to pull Lilly's wheelchair out of the trunk. While he did that, Miley got out and opened Lilly's door. Instead of moving so Miley could help her out, Lilly remained still, staring out the windshield.

"Sweetie what's wrong?" Miley asked worried.

"I don't know if I can do this Miley," she replied.

"What do you mean?" Miley asked, squatting down to be at the same level as Lilly.

"People will stare Miles. I don't wanna be the freak on wheels that everybody stares at and gives that stupid sympathetic smile to."

"No one is gonna think you're a freak Lil. And no one is gonna stare, well, I might just because you so darned cute." This rewarded her with a smile from the blond. "No matter what, just remember that you are my hero. My love. My life."

Lilly's mouth transformed into a huge smile just as Robbie Ray pushed the wheelchair up to the girls.

"Why do I always feel like I'm missin' somethin' between you two?" he asked looking from girl to girl. They both just shrugged their shoulders and continued smiling. "Whatever. Here ya go buds." Miley stood up and helped Lilly to sit in the chair. "Okay, just call me when you're ready for a ride home."

"Will do Mr. S. Cya!" Lilly waved as Miley pushed her towards the automatic doors.

"Where to first my dear?" Miley asked.

Where ever you want. I'm just along for the ride. Literally!" Lilly giggled at her own joke.

"How about we go check out some new shirts at Aero?" Miley asked heading off in that direction.

"Sure."

When they entered the store, Lilly's fear of being treated like a freak came back full force and she cringed at what the greeting clerk was about to say.

"Welcome. Hope you're having a great day today! Just so you know all of our polos are buy one get one half off as are our lady's tees," he said with a big smile on his face.

Lilly smiled back another one of her huge smiles. "Thank you sir." Her attention was quickly pulled away from him to Miley.

"Lilly look!" she said holding up a bright light blue polo. "This would look great on you and the color goes spectacular with your eyes," she exclaimed. "Oh and this one too!" she said holding up another polo, this one a bright orange color.

"Whatever you say Miles."

Miley went on babbling about clothes. What went with what and what style is best on what body shape.

"What's the best style for a chick on wheels?" Lilly piped up.

"You look good in anything babe," Miley said causing Lilly to blush. Smiling at the color of Lilly's face, Miley dumped some clothes in her lap and pushed her up to the check-out counter.

"Will this be all?" the cashier asked Miley who was pulling out her wallet.

"No. Can I have that plaid hat behind you too? Thanks." She waited for the total to come up and then handed the woman her money.

"Have a pleasant day," the woman said handing her the change and their bag of clothes.

"Thank you, you too ma'am," Lilly said as she was rolled out of the store. "Now what?"

"I thought we would go down to that new skateboard shop and look around a bit."

"Really? Cool!" Lilly said excitedly.

"Hey hey! Nice wheels! What can I do for you ladies today?" a young man about Jackson's age asked them as they entered the store.

"We're just looking thanks," Lilly said sweetly. "Check it out! The new Element boards are in!" Lilly basically screamed at Miley, pointing.

Miley pushed Lilly over to look at the new skateboards.

"Well my name is TJ if you need anything," the guy hollered as they rolled away. Miley turned her head to acknowledge the statement when something on the wall caught her eye.

"I'll be right back okay?" Miley said walking away from Lilly to look at something else. She stood, looking up at the wall covered with different colored light sticks.

"See something you like?" TJ asked.

"What are those?" she pointed at the lights.

"Those are special board lights. You snap them on the long edges of your skateboards."

"Would they snap onto the spokes of that wheelchair?" she motioned over to Lilly who was still drooling over the new skateboards in front of her.

"I'm sure they would."

"Well I would like ten of them please."

TJ nodded and began gathering the boxes of lights.

As Miley waited for the lights, Lilly contemplated which new board was the coolest. When she finally picked one, she reached out to grab it but it was just out of her reach. Determined to get it herself, she reached down to the wheels of her chair. She gripped the right wheel just fine but when she tried to grip the left, she found that once again her fingers wouldn't cooperate. Frustrated, she decided to use the palm of her hand to turn the wheel, but as she did so pain shot through her entire arm. Ignoring it, she continued with the wheel propelling herself forward. When she felt that she was close enough she extended her arm and pulled the skateboard off the shelf and into her lap. She then managed to get herself turned around and began heading in the direction of Miley. Just as Miley turned to check on her Lilly rolled to a stop at her side.

"Lilly! When did you? But how did you? I left you over, and now you're," Miley said clearly flabbergasted.

"I know," Lilly said beaming.

She placed the skateboard up on the counter and began rummaging around for her wallet. Miley stopped Lilly's actions as she regained her wits.

"I got this Lilly," she said handing TJ a credit card.

"You don't have to do that Miley."

"I know. I wanna buy nice things for my girl though," Miley replied, signing the receipt.

"You two make a really cute couple you know," TJ said as Miley pushed Lilly out of the store.

"I know right," she shot over her shoulder to him. Turning her attention back to Lilly she said, "you wanna just sit and talk for awhile? I've got a special present for ya."

"Sure. There's some chairs you can sit in. I don't need one, I brought my own," Lilly said patting the armrests of her wheelchair.

Moving over to the chairs, Miley plopped down into one of them and pulled Lilly close to her.

"So what's this special present for me Ms. Stewart?" Lilly asked, folding her hands in her lap.

"This," Miley said showing her one of the light sticks.

"A board light? For what?"

"Not just **a **board light, **ten** board lights!"

"I ask again, for what?" Lilly asked.

"To do this," she snapped a light on one of Lilly's spokes and turned it on.

"Oh good, now I'm a freak with lights," Lilly said sarcastically.

"C'mon babe, I told you you're not a freak." She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Lilly's forehead. "And trust me, these lights will look so awesome."

Lilly smiled as Miley pulled away. She grabbed another light from Miley and looked it over.

"I guess they are pretty cool."

Just then, they were interrupted by a voice they had learned to hate over the years.

"Miley? Lilly?"

They jerked their heads to the side to see Ashley walking towards them.

"What do we do" Lilly whispered.

"I don't know."

Before they could come up with anything Ashley stopped right next to them, looking down into their faces.

"Hey. How are you doing?" Ashley asked standing awkwardly.

"We're doing alright," Miley answered.

"That's good," Ashley said, not knowing what else to say.

"So, ah, how come you're not with Amber?" Lilly asked what both her and Miley were thinking.

"Well, we kinda had a little fight and now we're not speaking," she explained.

"Wow, it musta been some fight to make you two stop talking. You guys are usually all but glued together."

"Yeah, well she goes too far sometimes," Ashley said staring at the ground.

"Why don't you pull up a chair and join us," Miley said, feeling the girl needed a couple of friends at the time.

Happy to be accepted by the two girls she had spent so much time terrorizing, Ashley set her purse down next to Lilly and pulled a chair up to them, plopping down in the same manner as Miley had.

"So what are you doing at the mall today?" she asked.

"You know, just shopping around, getting Lilly out and about. I was afraid she was becoming a hermit," Miley joked.

"Yeah, being laid up in a hospital bed for a week and a half can be a bit of a downer," Lilly laughed.

"How are you after all of that?" Ashley asked, lowering her voice.

"As good as can be expected after getting kidnapped and tortured. Broken leg, crushed hand, and a gash I'm sure will leave a lovely scar," she answered, running her fingers unconsciously over the healing gash on her face.

Ashley cringed at her. But then her features grew soft and she grasped Lilly's good hand.

"If you ask me, you're a hero."

Lilly was shocked by this new side of Ashley.

"She's my hero," Miley said, staring into Lilly's eyes.

"Okay Ms. Googley eyes, you gonna snap those lights on my wheels or what?" Lilly laughed.

Miley laughed with her as she snapped on the rest of the lights.

"Oh I know where I wanna go next!" Miley said, suddenly struck by an idea.

"Where" Lilly asked.

"I can't tell you. In fact, I can't even bring you. Here," she said handing some cash to Lilly, "go with Ashley down to American Eagle and get something to go with your new polos and hat. In twenty minutes, come over to," she whispered something in Ashley's ear. "Okay?" she asked both girls.

Ashley just nodded while Lilly put up a fuss.

"Why are you keeping girlfriend out of the loop here?" she asked Miley, who was already walking away.

"C'mon Lilly. Don't worry about it." Ashley said getting behind Lilly to push her.

When they got to American Eagle Ashley brought her straight over to the girls jeans.

"Okay now, which style jeans do you like the best?" she asked rummaging through the stacks of folded jeans.

"Actually, I think I just wanna get some new board shorts, they're easier to pull over my cast."

"Sure, let's check them out."

The two girls looked around through the many pairs of shorts folded and stacked on the shelves. Ashley made sure to stall Lilly a bit before they actually found some and brought them up to pay for them. It took a few moments to get the shorts rung up and paid for because the cashier was new, or at least that's what his name tag said. When they finally got their bag, Ashley pushed Lilly out of the store and into the mall.

"To the secret batcave Batman!" Lilly shouted, pumping her fist in the air.

"You're crazy! Hey I've got an idea. Hang on tight," Ashley said.

Just as Lilly was about to ask why, Ashley took off running, pushing the chair as fast as she could go. She then jumped onto the metal bars on the back and the wheelchair zoomed through the mall, carrying both girls giggling and shouting their 'whees'. As they slowed down, Ashley hopped off and began pushing the chair casually like before.

"Hey!" Miley leaped out in front of them causing Lilly to practically jump out of her chair.

"Not funny!" she yelled fixing herself. "So what were you doing, oh secret one?"

"Well, I got us a present," she answered holding out a small bag.

"us?"

"Yes for us," Miley emptied the bag into her hand.

She held out her palm to Lilly revealing two shiny silver rings, one with 'Miley Ray Stewart' engraved on the inside and the other with 'Lilly Jaymes Truscott.'

"Miley," Lilly whispered.

"This one is yours," she said putting the one with Miley's name on the inside onto Lilly's good hand. "Just so you never forget who's yours."

Lilly examined the ring for a moment before looking up to Miley with tears in her eyes.

"Aww, well aren't you two just the cutest!" Ashley cooed.

"Shut-up," Lilly laughed, wiping her tears away.

"I'm glad you like it Lil," Miley said, slipping her own ring on. "Now how about we go grab some lunch somewhere, my stomach is rumbling something fierce."

"Do you guys wanna come over to my house? We can eat there." Ashley offered.

"Sounds great Ash," Lilly answered for Miley.

"Awesome! My car is parked out those doors," she pointed down a hallway in front of them.

"I'll just call my dad and tell him where we're goin'," Miley said pushing Lilly with one hand and flipping out her cell phone with her other.

The conversation was short and by the time she hung up they were standing next to Ashley's car. Like before, Miley rolled Lilly to the passenger door and helped her get in. She then folded the wheelchair up and set it in Ashley's trunk. Once everyone was buckled in Ashley started up the car and paulled out of the parking space.

"So Ashley, I don't mean to pry, but what are you and Amber fighting about that makes you two stop talking?" Miley asked from the backseat.

"Well, actually, we are fighting about you and Lilly," she answered glancing at Miley in the review mirror.

"Really-mean-girl-turned-nice say what?" Miley asked jumping forward.


	3. Ashley's House

Chapter 3: Ashley's house

"_Well, actually, we are fighting about you and Lilly," she answered glancing at Miley in the review mirror._

"_Really-mean-girl-turned-nice say what?" Miley asked jumping forward._

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

"Yeah," Ashley replied flatly.

"How was it about us?" Lilly asked.

"Well it happened when I was at her house watching that stupid Zombie Slayer show. The episode had just ended and the news came on. I was just about to change the channel when pictures of you two came on the screen. Amber told me to change it but I was curious as to why you guys got to be on TV so I left it on. The news caster told your horrifying story and then your interview came on, Miley. It was just so sweet when you talked about Lilly being your everything and how she saved your life," Ashley smiled again into the rearview mirror.

Miley nodded remembering the interview. "I meant every word I said."

"After the interview," Ashley continued, "Amber went off. She started yelling and slamming you guys saying how she knew you guys were disgusting dykes. And that she was gonna get Todd and his friends to kick the crap out of you two for crushing on her."

"Uh! I would NEVER in my life crush on Amber!" Lilly said disgusted.

"I know right! I tried to tell her that but she just kept talking over me. So I yelled at her to shut up and she actually listened. I told her to leave you guys alone and she accused me of being a lesbian with you. I said I would rather be a lesbian than a cold bitch like her," Ashley said triumphantly.

"What did she say to that?" Miley asked.

"The bitch slapped me, right in the face. Hit me so hard she split my lip. And then she threw me out of her house. The next day, Todd approached me and threatened me. He said that if I got too close to Amber or started hanging out with you two, I'd be sorry. No worries though, I'm not afraid."

"Good. Don't worry Ashley, we got your back," Lilly assured her, putting her casted hand on her leg.

"So we're friends?" Ashley asked hesitantly.

"Of course Ashley. Thank you for defending us," Lilly replied.

"Awesome. I hated being so mean all the time," she confessed.

"Really? But you seemed so happy doing it," Miley said, shocked.

"It was miserable. Everyone hates you and you have absolutely no true friends when you act like that."

"I guess there's more to being popular than we though Miles."

"I guess," Miley said quietly.

The rest of the car ride was silent as all three girls thought of the current situation.

"Here we are," Ashley announced, breaking the silence and turning off the engine.

Lilly and Miley looked out the window to see a small house.

"Where can I put your wheelchair Lilly?" Ashley asked, climbing out of the car.

"You can actually just leave it in the trunk and I'll grab it when we leave."

Following Ashley, Miley helped Lilly out of the car and they walked together up to the house.

"I pictured a much bigger house," Lilly whispered.

"Me too," Miley replied.

Ashley held the door open for them so they could go inside.

"My little brother is home. He can be kinda annoying but it's not his fault. He has autism so just humor him okay?" Ashley explained, stepping in behind them.

"I didn't know you had a brother," Miley said untying Lilly's shoe and taking it off and then removing her own.

"Amber never let me talk about him. She said he's a freak, but he's a really sweet kid. His brain just doesn't work all that well," Ashley said taking her own shoes off.

"Ash, is that you?" a voice called from another room.

"Yeah mom, I brought some friends home. We're gonna hang in my room for awhile."

"Well, wait, can't I meet your friends?" her mother asked coming into the room. "Hi, I'm Sue, Ashley's mom."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Miley and this is my girlfriend Lilly," Miley said and stuck her hand out for Sue to shake.

"It's nice to meet you two too. Are you planning on staying for dinner? We would love to have you."

"Um, sure," Miley said. "Cool with you Lil?"

"Fantastic," Lilly replied, smiling at Sue.

"Great! I'll call you ladies down in a few hours when it's ready. Ashley, can you please check on your brother for me? He's in his room playing legos."

"No problem mom," Ashley replied. "C'mon guys, I'll show you my room," she said happily, leading the girls up a staircase.

"Ash?" a voice called out from down the hall when they reached the top of the stairs.

"Where are you Dylan?" she called back.

"Dylan in my room," the voice answered.

Miley and Lilly followed her down the hall and stopped outside a blue painted room. Inside, there was a boy about eight years old, sitting on the floor playing with legos.

"Hey Dylan. How are you today?"

Dylan feels good today," he answered.

"That's good," she smiled.

"Thank you," Dylan replied, almost automatic sounding.

"I want you to meet a couple friends. This is Lilly and Miley," Ashley introduced them slowly.

Dylan got up from the floor and walked over in front of Lilly.

"Excuse me," he said with his hand flat out between them.

Lilly took her arm off of Miley's shoulders long enough to give Dylan a five. "Good to meet you Dylan."

"Good to meet Lilly and Miley," he stuck his hand out again, this time in front of Miley and she did the same as Lilly.

"We'll be in my room if you need anything," Ashley said leading the girls out of Dylan's room.

"Bye Ash," Dylan waved, getting back to his legos.

"He is such a sweetheart," Miley said sitting down on Ashley's bed with Lilly.

"Yeah, he's my little guy," Ashley replied.

All three girls were silent as Miley and Lilly looked around Ashley's room.

"It's nice in here," Lilly spoke up.

"Thanks! I decorated it myself. Well, Dylan helped a little bit too. It's kinda small but I like to think of it as cozy instead."

"It's lovely. You have very nice posters and decorations, and…Oh my God, is that a Super Nintendo!?" Miley asked pointing at the video game console next to Ashley's TV.

"It most certainly is," Ashley laughed.

"Do you have Mario Kart? Or Donkey Kong? Or Super Mario World?" Lilly asked, just as excited as Miley.

"Yes, yes, and yes. I have tons of games. Check it out." She pulled a big plastic box out from under her bed and pushed the lid off.

"I must be dreaming!" Lilly said gazing wide-eyed at the games.

"Nope. Go ahead and pick some out to play." Ashley pushed the box closer to her so she could reach inside it.

"Mario Kart!" Miley shouted, pulling the game out.

"Awesome." Ashley took the game from her and put it onto the console. She laughed at how Lilly and Miley seemed hypnotized by the video game.

They played for hours, only stopping long enough to switch games and to take turns. Eventually, Ashley's mother hollered at them from downstairs giving them five minutes warning for dinner. Miley sighed as Ashley turned the game off.

"When did Lilly fall asleep?" Ashley asked motioning to the blond sprawled out across her bed.

"I'm not sure. Her pain medication makes her sleepy, so probably after she took those."

"Is she still in pain?" Ashley asked quietly.

"She'd never admit it, but I can see it in her eyes sometimes. It's heartbreaking to know she's still experiencing the pain," Miley said just as quiet as Ashley, stroking the blond hair.

"You two are just so sweet," Ashley smiled. "I gotta go get Dylan for dinner."

"I'll wake her up," Miley said as Ashley stood up and left the room. "Lilly, sweetheart, time to wake up," she gently shook her shoulder.

"Mmph," Lilly let out a sleepy grumble.

"C'mon, Ashley's mom made dinner," Miley moved in closer to the smaller girl.

"Mmm," she groaned again.

Instead of trying to verbally rouse her out of sleep, Miley decided to take another course of action. She leaned down and gently placed her lips against Lilly's. To her pleasure, she felt the blond kissing back, so she leaned into it just a bit more. They were so preoccupied that they didn't hear Ashley come back in the room.

"Hey guys, not on my bed now!" she joked.

At the sound of Ashley's voice, Miley quickly pulled away and blushed a bright red. A huge smile spread across Lilly's face as she pushed herself up.

"So…dinner?" Miley said trying to clear the awkwardness.

"Sure," Ashley said smirking.

"Good," Miley stood and pulled Lilly up next to her. They made their way downstairs with Ashley. Dylan and Sue were already sitting at the table so the three girls joined them.

"So Ashley, where do you know Miley and Lilly from?" Sue asked passing a bowl of mashed potatoes to her.

"From school," she answered passing the bowl on to Lilly.

"Ah, I see. It's so nice to know you're hanging out with someone other than Amber. You two look very familiar to me though. Have you been over before?"

"No ma'am, this is our first time here," Lilly answered.

"You probably recognize them from the news mom."

"You're the kidnapping victims!" Sue exclaimed.

"We prefer not to be called victims," Miley said quietly.

"Victims die, we survived," Lilly added.

"Sorry. You were very brave! How are you doing now?"

"Well I'm fine and Lilly is slowly but surely recovering," Miley explained.

"You are very strong and I'm so happy my daughter has friends as good as you," Sue smiled.

They chit chatted for the remainder of dinner and when they finished eating they continued to visit for awhile longer. Miley happened to glance at the clock on the wall behind Sue and realized it was already 9:30.

"Oh my God! I didn't know it was so late! Lilly, my dad is probably at home getting freaked out. We should get going."

"Thank you so much for dinner Sue," Lilly said.

"It was my pleasure girls. Come back again any time."

"I'll drive you home," Ashley offered, standing up from her seat.

"Thanks," Miley said kneeling in front of Lilly, pushing her shoe on her good foot.

When she was finished she pulled Lilly onto her foot and they followed Ashley out the front door and to her car. The three girls got situated and buckled in before Ashley pulled away from the curb. Miley directed her to her house and within five minutes they were pulling up in front of it.

"Thanks for the ride," Miley said, helping Lilly out of the car.

"No problem. Thanks for hanging out with me today. I had a great time," Ashley answered, pulling Lilly's wheelchair out of her trunk.

"We should for sure do it again sometime soon," Lilly grinned goofily at Ashley.

"For Sure!"

"Good night Ashley," Miley set Lilly in her chair and began pushing her up to the house.

"Wait! Do you want my cell number so you can call me to hang out again?" Ashley asked desperately.

"Oh yeah I guess I forgot that I don't have it." Miley turned around and listened to Ashley's number, putting it into her own phone right away.

"Cool. See ya later," Ashley waved walking back down around her car and drove away.

"Wow, it really blows my mind how nice she was today," Lilly stated as they made their way up to the door.

"Yeah, me too," Miley agreed.

"You think it was real?"

"Seemed pretty real to me."

Robbie Ray must have been watching for them because he greeted them at the door with a smile.

"Hey girls, I was startin' to get a might nervous. How was the mall?"

"We had a great time Mr. S," Lilly answered. "Miley got me some sweet lights for my chair."

"Awesome. Did you ladies eat good?"

"Yep. Ashley's mom made us dinner," Miley said walking past him.

"Okay, what's on the agenda now?"

"I think we'll just go to my room and watch a movie."

"Sounds good bud. Want me to take that chair off your hands?"

"Yes sir," Lilly nodded, sliding out of the chair and onto the floor.

Miley and Lilly went upstairs together, Miley on her feet and Lilly on her butt. When they got to Miley's room, Lilly needed a little help getting up onto the bed, which Miley happily gave her.

"So what movie?" Miley asked looking at her dvd collection.

"Never Been Kissed?"

"Sounds great to me," Miley said, finding it and putting it into the player.

Then she went back to her bed and climbed in behind Lilly. She snuggled up to her back so close as she could get and wrapped an arm around Lilly's waist.

"Miley?" Lilly said in a small voice.

"Hmm?" Miley answered sleepily.

"Would you like to go on a real date with me when I don't have to use that wheelchair anymore?"

"I would love that!"

Lilly said nothing else in return. Instead, she just smiled and closed her tired eyes. Feeling the warmth radiating from Miley's body, she drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

A/N – Sorry I'm taking so long to update. School is crazy right now! And I also have to apologize about the boringness of this story. I'm really not good at writing anything but poetry and action stuff. I'm trying though!


End file.
